This PowerPoint accompanies a brief lesson on Elizabeth Bishop and her use of Poetic Devices. The class read a popular Bishop poem, The Fish, and shared their initial reactions.





Devon Field
8/4/10
Lesson Plan- 2nd Draft
State Standards:
* Students will expand their reading vocabulary by identifying idioms and words used with both figurative and literal meaning, using a reference or dictionary.
*Identify, describe, evaluate and synthesize the essential ideas in text. Assess those reading strategies that were most effective in learning from a variety of texts.

Lesson: The Power of Poetic Description and the Magic of Elizabeth Bishop
Audience: High School Sophomores
Goal: Students will be able to identify poetic devices from a given text and create their own in a creative writing assignment.
Objective: Students will identify at least 5 examples of poetic devices (e.g. alliteration, simile, metaphor, symbol) used in poems by Elizabeth Bishop.
Objective: Students will create their own similes and metaphors after listening to an Elizabeth Bishop poem and imitating her style.
Objective: Students will be able to match a poetic device to its definition, after reading and listening to examples of Elizabeth Bishop's work, with 90% accuracy.
Time Frame: 1-2 class periods
Materials:
  1. Powerpoint presentation on Elizabeth Bishop and examples of her poetry
  2. Poems – The Fish, Quai d' Orleans, The Shampoo by Elizabeth Bishop all found in The Complete Poems Edited by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux (New York)
  3. Video- of someone reading or singing a poem
  4. Worksheet- practicing Bishop's style

Warm-Up Activity: To emphasis the significance of description, students will pair off. One student will have a picture and have to describe the picture for the other partner to draw (the other partner will not be able to see the picture). Each partner will have a minute to describe his/her scene.
Main Lesson: Instructor will review the definitions of literary devices and show examples of each. Students will be given time to react and reflect on the poems. Students will get a chance to review the literary definitions to allow for thorough comprehension of terms. Students will be given an opportunity to imitate Bishop's style and share with the class through reading aloud, or performance.
Assessment: Students will be asked to demonstrate their knowledge of the literary devices by utilizing the devices in a piece of original work.
Learning Styles:
-The PowerPoint presentations will incorporate written and visual representations of literary devices. (Visual/Linguistic)
-I will allow students to work in small groups and share poetry with the class (Interpersonal)
-I will play a poem set to music to help the students hear the effect of the literary devices used in Bishop's poetry and encourage the students to react and reflect on the feelings the work produces. (Musical/ Intrapersonal)
Reflection:
1) Did my students understand the main point of the lesson?
2) How did the students respond to the material I presented?
3) Were the students engaged in the poetry?
4) Does my PowerPoint cater to the learning styles of all of my students?
5) How can I make this lesson more engaging the second time around?